To Slave For Lakers.

[darsky]

having you and that Borger fellow posting reports sure spruces up the place. No pike?

[Joeytier]

You have a great gift, being able to not only visit magical places like this, but capturing their essence. Another awesome photo essay, one I particulaly enjoyed, me being a laker-holic and all

[Sinker]

Pretty incredible trip Drew. Awesome that Brenda and yourself get to share these trips. Those are some sweeeeeet lakers! The grayling aint to shabby either! Crazy fires, eh? I have a cousin that lives in yellowknife who's been sharing photos and stories, as well as two good friends up there fighting fires. Ive never experienced fire like that. Thanks for sharing, im sure i'll be back for a re-readd once or twice more

 

S.

[fishindevil]

Amazing pics & description of your trip !!! Wow to be that close to a major forest fire and still have world class fishing !!! Epic for sure !!! Thanks for sharing bunk !!!! Wow

[Whopper]

Thanks for all your hard work so you could share this trip with us. Simply incredible!

Your words and pictures are second to none.

 

Thanks!

[Steve1991]

I absolutely love reading your reports. Amazing report and pics!

 

Thanks for sharing .

[Musky or Specks]

This is a great report and once again makes me realize that life is to short and there is too little vacation time to do all the trips I'd love to do.

[mepps]

Epic report as usual!

[mr blizzard]

Great report, should have stopped over for a coffee.

Like was previously stated they dont expect a lot of improvement till the fall

Six weeks of smoke poor air quality road closures for days at a time plus bare shelves has its moments....BUT the fishing is good.

Glad u had a great experience

[tonyb]

Incredible writing, photos, and fish as always...don't recall getting an invite though!?

[NewHips]

Epic report as usual.........thank you for sharing the very essence of being that far North.........Great job

[spincast]

Reports like this you can almost feel the thrill of the fishing, the disappointment of the cold front, the concerns of the smoke. Great stuff, some absolute beasty lakers there.

[Moosebunk]

And the daily update of fires in the NWT: http://up.nwtfire.com/sites/default/files/2014-08-05_currentfiresituation.html

 

That's the link Dave. Thanks. My buddy Dan's cabin was in trouble too, not sure how that all ended up. Understand yours is your life blood right now dood, hoping the winds are in your favor. It'd be a real shame that kind of set back with the work you've put into it.

 

Incredible writing, photos, and fish as always...don't recall getting an invite though!?

 

AHEM!!!!!!!!

 

From: A Bunker

Sent: December-09-13 9:40 PM

To: Bolgert@....

Cc: A Bunker

Subject: 2014 Trip. Arctic Trip Planning.

“Have been thinking it would be a decent time to try and sort out a group trip for 2014........ a trip to one of these BIG three laker & pike fisheries of Northern Canada.......”

Didn't forget ya!!! As always, I keep the real in it buddy.

 

No pike?

 

Didn't plan on bothering with them at all, although there's some pike fishing to be had there for sure.

 

Six weeks of smoke poor air quality road closures for days at a time plus bare shelves has its moments....BUT the fishing is good.

Glad u had a great experience

 

Northern Store shelves are wiped out eh!?! Can't go nowhere either eh!?! Remember those days during fall freeze and spring break ups. Least we could breathe. Did you get the rain yesterday???

 

 

Thanks tonnes OFC gang, as always, happy you're enjoying the report. Exceptional time for us, tried to do it justice in the report.

[akaShag]

Fabulous report as always, buddy.

 

As you know I was up there the next week and we did very well also, but the fires cut our trip short. If I get off my lazy butt, I suppose I could scribble out a companion piece to this one, albeit with poorer photographs and for sure less gifted prose.

 

And yes, I have been thinking that I SHALL return...............

 

Doug

[Nipfisher]

Andrew you have a true gift for writing these reports and you and Bren are pretty good with the camera and rods too.

[corvette1]

drew..... what an awesome trip congrats to the the both of you. the report and picture's were great thank you.

[4x4bassin]

Absolutely spectacular report Moose , some of those pictures are crazy good

That trip is on my bucket list for sure , one day that place will see my shadow .

[Lunkerhunter]

amazing report! seeing the smoke and reading about the ambers landing in the water around you while ashes fall from the sky sent shivers through my body.

 

that is one incredible experience and I hope to one day experience a trip to NWT.

 

when is the most ideal time to go? I see there is limited dates to choose from but is it better near the end of the time frames?

 

also is the guide included in the cost?

Edited August 7, 2014 by Lunkerhunter

[Lunkerhunter]

one last question. haha as you have been to a few of the lodges at plummers, would you recommend one over the others?

[Jds63]

speechless .....

 

phenomenal report and pictures .... what a beautiful place !!!!

[Moosebunk]

As you know I was up there the next week and we did very well also, but the fires cut our trip short. If I get off my lazy butt, I suppose I could scribble out a companion piece to this one, albeit with poorer photographs and for sure less gifted prose.

 

And yes, I have been thinking that I SHALL return...............

 

I'll go with ya Doug. Glad you came back with your beard intact. One falling ember hits your chin and your hairy head would ignite in an atomic blow NASA would report. But seriously, enjoyed the recap you sent and very happy you got to experience that Doug. Check one off your bucketlist bud.

 

that is one incredible experience and I hope to one day experience a trip to NWT.

 

when is the most ideal time to go? I see there is limited dates to choose from but is it better near the end of the time frames?

 

also is the guide included in the cost?

 

Late response here, working, and seriously had to give your next question some thought... Not that I hadn't pondered some on that already...

 

Most ideal time to go to Slave is last week of July, first two weeks of August. At least that is what my guide and some other's feel is best. Lakers are stacked up together best, staging, and in easy to reach location. Bren and I chose earlier because our girls were being looked after at camp, and also because a friend recommended this earlier period as his favorite time to go.

 

If choosing Bear for lakers alone, I'd think anytime is a good time to go but I'd probably go second or third week into their open season. Fishing nearer to the main lodge from what I know is better then, and so are catch numbers. They tend to troll only at Bear and so the fish would be quite shallow then too. Dave (DRIFTER) used to guide there and he'd be a good one to ask what he thinks best time at Bear is.

 

Is the guide covered. YES. But tipping is a must, and that's pointed out in a handbook Plummer's provides when booking.

 

one last question. haha as you have been to a few of the lodges at plummers, would you recommend one over the others?

 

I'd recommend both for different reasons. Places like this once they get into you, you're wrecked for life. Visiting somewhere like the Tree, you'll go years afterwards thinking about it at least once a week...

 

Price: Slave wins. Cheapest package to start with and no added costs with the fly-outs necessary.

Main Lodge: Slave again. Both are great, though Slave's is nicer with a million dollar view and better fishing right from shore.

Rooms: Both. Bren's and my cozy Cabin #8 on Bear with the windows looking to the Narakays was our favorite.

Staff: Amazing at both lodges.

Boats: Same at both lodges.

Travel: Slave. You get to the lodge earliest on day 1 and can have a full days fishing, (half day or so at Bear) You depart earliest as well final day, and can more easily make one day flights and connections to get all the way home, without the possibility of incurring extra travel costs.

Fly-outs: Bear wins. There are no fly outs at Slave. There is some mind-blowing fishing to be had on Bear's fly-outs.

 

Fishing... it's kinda equal and depends how you want to fish, who you're fishing with and what your goals are.

 

Through my experience and others the PROS to Slave are...

 

Jigging. Using lighter gear, hunting archs on the sonar, playing that game for lakers is more fun to me than trolling, but people catch plenty fish trolling at Slave too.

Numbers. I'd guess Slave consistently boasts better numbers of fish caught by guests over a week long period. A consideration if taking kids, newbies, spouses...

Area. At Slave the fishing is done much closer to the Lodge. Travel times in the boat tend not to be as long, again no fly-outs are needed and there's more time fishing.

Safety. I believe there are more protected areas on Slave to fish if the weather turns nasty, and there are never any no-fishing days.

Fish. Slave is a 30+ pound laker factory. You go there and you have a legitimately excellent chance at fish like this, maybe multiple times over in a week. Twenties are commonplace as well. On an "average" trip expect your boat to likely catch about 200 lakers, and lose 100 too. Our guide tells me that 70-80 fish days can happen at Slave... within sight of the Lodge.

 

Comparing with the PROS of Bear...

Trolling. My wife likes this better as it's more relaxing. Covering lots of water and taking in the scenery, while pulling lures like Huskys and Flatfish on heavy rods is for most part the Bear life.

Numbers. I haven't put a full week in at Bear because of the Tree, nor gone earlier or late season, nor paid for more than one fly-out to best spots, so I'm not sure what an average weeks catch is, I do however have a friend that's spent numerous weeks on Athabasca, Slave and Bear on different occasions, and he tells me that your numbers go down as your potential for bigger size goes up.

Area. Plenty area to cover near the main lodge, other lodges on the lake you can book into, fly-outs, guided river trips onto the tundra's rivers, the Tree River, with Bear it's an endless world to cover. You could go on many trips over and over, and do something different, some place different, everyday.

Fish. This is where the serious hunt World Records, and where you have a best shot at a 40+ pound laker on your trip. 20+ pound Arctic char too.

 

If getting down to business fishing only lakers, I'd probably by a hair choose Slave even despite those hog fish being up at Bear. If choosing one trip over the other for an overall experience combining all things available, myself and Brenda for sure, everytime, would go to Bear with the Tree. That's the trip which got us into all this mess to begin with.

 

Hope that rambling helps ya out.

[Jds63]

awesome thanks for that comparison ... I just gotta make it happen some day .....

[Lunkerhunter]

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. that helps quite a bit!

 

now I just have to convince a fishing buddy to tag along with me.

[RickOnt]

Hey Bunk

 

Another amazing trip!! Thanks for taking the time to do the report, A fantastic write up and pics!

 

Your comparisons in Bear and Slave is great A lot of really good info.

 

My favorite is still the Tree, I just loved your report and pics from that trip.

 

Cheers

Rick

[TDunn]

Ummm, wow! What a clinic you and bren put on.

Thanks for the report, it was very entertaining with some world class lakers involved.

Keep in touch Drew.

 

 

 

TDunn